Do you train methodologically? or you just "pull or haul heavy and intense”
From the first time I got into the gym I knew that to observe results quickly in my muscular development not only would have to train like little lamb, following the same routines that all in my gym made without questioning nothing. I have always been expert in questioning many things and even memory the expression of the girl who offered her milk serum protein to me in a bag when I made her hopeless when asked her if the milk serum of its bottle was from ionic interchange, hidrolizated, isolated, filtrate or a combination, I am expert in making questions, until the stupidest ones some times, but that is the base to learn to not be mistaken and in this sport it helps you a lot.

Through many years passed before finding a good teacher who taught me to train suitably, from then I knew that a better method of training had to exist in order to see results, then I began to investigate, read magazines, to sail by the Internet and eventually I devoured related books, later I took courses with the best trainers to discover than train suitably with weights to see results in less time is nothing else but just  “pull or haul? heavy and intense”.

Before you think that I try to take away the credit to all the people who have put themselves immense without at least reading some magazine, book or taken a course and recognizing of course that you don´t have to have a doctorate in physiology and/or training of high performance so you can develop a decent physics, I must leave in clear that the main point of this article is that you know how to train suitably to save many years, that you know the basic principles of a good methodology of training and just in this way you will be able to see results in less time, without forgetting of course, that you must beat yourself at the gym

Not only theory is what you need to know, but also to put in practice what you have learned, since in no book you will be able to learn how to get to the muscular failure in squats or what feels to make a maximum rise of died weight of power, for those who don´t know, it feels like that delicious omelet of egg you had for breakfast wants to escape from you, but transformed…
In this occasion we will analyze the concept known like “tempo”, (it is not time) But before let's initiate with a bit of bases about how the muscular growth is carried out.

Hipertrophy and muscular anabolism, what happens?

Remembering the muscles are basically protein chains that give their structure to other smaller proteins call them actine, miosine and a little troponine.

Then what we looked for is indeed to break these muscular fibers obtaining the yearned (and also hated) the microtraumas responsible for the muscular pain subsequent to the training, known like DOMS by its abbreviations in English.

It is as simple as to go to the gymnasium, make the suitable exercises, with a weight that allows you to break the greater amount of fibers with probabilities of growing, calls fibers of hipertrophy, to rest and to nourish your body, that simple, but in addition to this if you bear in mind variables like the time in which you make each repetition you will be able to take the greater benefit of your training.

Let´s know the tempo
Tempo refers to the variable of the training related to the speed you execute each repetition in your exercises, popularized by the famous trainer of force; Charles Poliquin whom presented this term in his first articles approximately 10 years ago in Average Muscle 2000 ® and later in the other books that wrote ruined the routines that previously were seen in most of the commercial magazines when he placed rare numbers to each exercise.

Charles Poliquin is not indeed whom invented the concept of tempo, simply presented it and ® popularized such as Bill Phillips with the Met-Rx the plans of 12 weeks to get in shape and the creatine.

I say that Charles popularized since the Dr. Tudor Bompa and the Dr. Mel Schiff had spoken of it previously in their books they published several decades ago but who more developed protocols and presented them was indeed the good Charles, so we had to give him his respective credit so you don´t think that now I bring the black thread when my mission is simply to let you know this concept.

How important is the tempo?
In definitive if you want to develop quickly your muscular mass you must give its place to the tempo, I am not going to you to lie telling you that all the champions use tempo, it´s just enough to see a video of Ronnie Coleman training and you will see he will give you the best one of the chairs respect to the worse technique to train.

Many people who go to gym either do not use this concept of tempo and few professional bodybuilders athletes of the IFBB even use it, most intelligent of course are those who  apply to it along with a good methodology and scientific approach in their program of training, Milos Sarcev professional of the IFBB worked for a while with Charles Poliquin in his training programs and also he learned to train his body better, indeed Milos is one of the few that can presume to be a professional who advises other professionals by his knowledge, which aren´t just empirical.

What happens if I don´t train with good tempo and just “I pull or haul?? heavy and quick”?
Not training with the tempos of execution that I will suggest you, won´t prevent that possibly if your genetics, the use of drugs, perseverance, a diet and a suitable life style makes you get developed.

Nevertheless if you train in a scientific way you will be able get hurt less and to reduce the period in which you see as you are wanted to see and you do not lose years trying with empirical or instinctive routines.

Why the tempo makes me grow more?
Tempo as we commented indeed refers to the speed you will make each repetition, if you learn to manipulate the phases of a repetition lowering in different periods of time you will be able to stimulate and to generate a greater amount of ruptures in your chains of actine and miosine. This simple, more stimulus to grow is equal to a faster growth if your diet is adapted and your rest also. But is not only about count seconds in each repetition, there are phases on the muscular contraction in which the concept of tempo is more applicable, but let´s define what these phases are.

Types of muscular contractions
Depending on the author to whom we talk about there are basically muscular contractions of the following types:

Isokinetic
This talks about when you make a movement or complete repetition, that is to say, when you make curl with dumbbell complete.

Concentric
This phase talks about retaking the example of curl when the muscle of the biceps brachial (the rabbit) is stretched and you begin to contract it to initiate with the first phase of the movement.

Eccentric
This one talks about when the muscle to work (the synergists) is contracted, in this case when dumbbell is above in the curl and initiates the stretching or the biceps brachial begins “to discontract themselves” is not the correct word and although it is badly written (I just made it up) is so that we understand it better.

Then is not only negative phases or positive, simply it remembers that backing water the worked muscle that is contracted is the concentric phase and when extends is the eccentric.

Best tempo to grow
Best tempo you can grow and give a greater stimulus to your muscles is not indeed when the price of the milk serum low or nobody wants to buy somatropine and you find the best one of the sales, that definitively is not best tempo.

If you train with certain tempo in your concentric muscular contractions and eccentric you can break muscular fibers quickly, best tempo is one of 4 or 3 seconds for the eccentric phases and 1 or 2 seconds for the concentric ones, although you can vary it here enough.

Then if in your routine you want to give a good stimulus to your legs, prove to do squats with tempo of 4-1.

This means that in each repetition you will have to lower in 4 seconds and to rise in 1. Thus you will be able to break a greater amount of muscular fibers and although at the beginning if you were accustomed to train bouncing, quickly or without tempo, you will be able to notice that possibly you will be able to replenish your normal force but you will train with better tempo than will even cause that you injure yourself much less and of course, the next day you will remember the relation of the muscular pain post training and tempo.

In fact the best form to see if in a gymnasium somebody really knows to train or is a novice is avoiding to catalogue the novice saying that he is the one who spend hours doing curls of all type or if the novice is that one who drinks his liquefied of Mass Mega, egg albumen and liver powder of head of cattle. Nor you will not can deduce if he knows or not to train if their biceps measure 18 inches, the true expert will have to train with tempos and clock in hand if his objective is to increase his muscular mass quickly. This concept does not apply in the Fitness boys and people who just want the noticeable abdomen and some of arm…

Playing with tempo
Although we mentioned that excellent tempo would be of 4-1 or 3-1 does not imply that you can make more variables in it with other schemes and series of repetitions, of which for example; Arturo Aguilar spoke in his more recent exhibition in the convention that the magazine printed in Mexico Physic and Fitness in November of the last year organized, where was even mentioned that you could make longer tempos in where a repetition could be completed in 10 seconds but in where the raised weight was very near to your maximum, but like the time under tension was greater you could generate a greater muscular fiber rupture although you were raising weights that habitually you would use to train force or power.

If you just are interest in having something of muscular tone it is not so indispensable that you handle the concept of tempo, but if you want to look extremely well in less time, the best investment will be a clock with chronometer for your following training and thus you can start up this variable in your session of weights to grow and to grow.

About the author
Alberto Sevilla is Professional Trainer and Nutritional Advisor. You can contact him for a professional consultation in the design of training programs, nourishment and sport supplementation. The consultations can be in person or online via email.

Contact: alberto.sevilla@neogymonline.com

 

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